With over 325 entries expected to compete in 29 Pro and 6
Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, the
granddaddy of all desert races will be held Nov. 19-22 in Ensenada,
Mexico. Completing its 36th year as the World’s foremost desert racing
sanctioning body, the event is the finale of the five-race 2009 SCORE
Desert Series. To date entries have come from 38 U.S. States and 13
countries.

It’s the oldest and most well known of all desert races, and it
remains as the single most appealing accomplishment to a driver. Since
1967, the Granddaddy of all desert races has been run over the
mysterious Baja California peninsula. Because of the economics and
logistics involved, some years it is a peninsula run while most years
it is a loop race, starting and finishing in Ensenada.

This year’s 672.85-mile race will start for the 35th time and
finish for the 20th time in Ensenada. The motorcycle and ATV classes
will start their journey at 6:30 a.m. (PST, Friday, Nov. 20) with the
car and truck classes starting at approximately 10:30 a.m., or three
hours after the last ATV leaves the line. Vehicles will leave in
30-second intervals in the elapsed-time race and while the fastest
finishers are expected to complete the course in approximately 14
hours. All vehicles will have a 31-hour time limit to become official
finishers in the legendary adventure.

The race will start and finish on Boulevard Costero adjacent to
the picturesque Bahia de Todos Santos in front of the historical
Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada.

Pre-running on the 672.85-mile loop course will officially begin
on Saturday. Pre-running will be allowed from Ojos Negros and back,
starting at race mile 43.3. One way pre-running from the start to Ojos
Negros will be allowed only on Wednesday and Thursday of race week
(Nov. 18 and 19). During the race, the first section of the course,
approximately 40 miles, will be used leaving the city and returning to
Ensenada.

While late entries are accepted up to race day, a total of 303
entries have officially been accepted for the race as of today which
will put the starting field in the top 10 in the 42-year history of
the storied event.

“We have been able, with the dedication and cooperation of many
of our friends in Baja California, to develop a race course for the
42nd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 that will challenge even the most
experienced of our great SCORE desert racers,” commented Sal Fish,
SCORE President/CEO since soon after it was founded in 1973. “This
great, great course presents the competitors with all of the variety
of terrain and elevation changes you could possibly hope for along
with the dramatic beauty of Baja. This spectacular race course
features the best of the courses we have used in our last three SCORE
Baja races.”

With massive crowds reaching nearly 250,000 anticipated to again
be spread out along the rugged course that travels from Ensenada, down
Laguna Salada to San Felipe, down through the legendary Matomi Wash,
around Mike’s Sky Ranch, through both Rancho El Trachis and Rancho El
Coyote, down the infamous Simpson’s Hill and back to the Pacific Coast
below San Vicente and up through Santo Tomas, Uruapan and back to Ojos
Negros, covering much of the northern half of the majestic Baja
California peninsula to and from Ensenada.

From the start in Ensenada the course will go east to Ojos Negros
for almost 40 miles which will be raced in both directions during the
race. From Ojos Negros, the course will travel in a clockwise
direction. From Ojos Negros, the course turns South to El Alamo and
then east up through the Summit and makes a South turn at Cohabuzo
Junction and on to the the infamous Laguna Salada, paralleling Mexican
Highway 5. Next is San Felipe loop where the course will cover some
of the rugged Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 course including the
magnificent Matomi Wash.

After the San Felipe loop, which travels in a counterclockwise
direction from and back to Borrego, the course will head north and
northwest, joining Highway 3 for a short distance to the Mike’s Sky
Ranch turnoff. Then the course heads behind Mike’s and around Rancho
Trachis and Rancho Coyote and down the challenging Simpson’s hill.
From this point the course is very similar to the Tecate SCORE Baja
500 heading north along the Pacific Ocean below San Vicente and past
Erendira, back inland up through Santo Tomas then turning northeast
just past Uruapan winding its way back to Ojos Negros for the final
charge back to Ensenada. In the Erendira area, the course avoids the
rocky section along the Pacific, taking instead a high plateau east of
that area.

The course features six checkpoints, where vehicle numbers and
passing times are recorded to help verify the information gathered on
the electronic recording devices that are mounted on all vehicles in
the race.

Pre-race festivities on Thursday, Nov. 19, for the Tecate SCORE
Baja 1000, including the vastly popular tech and contingency of all
vehicles and the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be held from 19 a.m.
to 5 p.m. on Boulevard Costero in front of the Riviera del Pacifico
Cultural Center. The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be
held Thursday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. in the Cathedral Room at the Riviera
del Pacifico Cultural Center. Racer and media registration will be
held at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on
Wednesday, Nov. 18 and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19.

While entries will be accepted up to race morning (Friday, Nov.
20), late entries will be assigned the next available number and
starting position within each class.

The post-race Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Survivor’s Celebration will
be held poolside at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel at 10 a.m. on Sunday,
Nov. 22.

The car and truck classes with the most entries to date are SCORE
Trophy-Truck (34), Class 1 (23), Class 1-2/1600 (13) and Class 10 and
SCORE Lite (10 each).

Among the motorcycle and ATV classes, the open motorcycle Class
22 has the most entries to date with 18 followed by Class 30, riders
30 years old and over, which has 13.

Leading the six Sportsman classes in the race is Sportsman
Motorcycle over 250cc which has 35 entries and Sportsman Motorcycle
under 250cc which has 14 entries to date.

The defending overall champions are all in this year’s field:
Roger Norman, Reno, Nev./Larry Roeseler, Boulevard, Calif., in the No.
8 Norman Motorsports BFGoodrich Tires Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck,
the No. 1x Class 22 open motorcycle team led by Robby Bell, Sun City,
Calif., on a Kawasaki KX450 and the No. 1a Class 24 open ATV team led
by Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif., on a Honda TRX700XX.

Among the many other talented entries from all over the world is
the venerable Rod Hall, Reno, Nev., who is only individual who has
raced in all 41 previous Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 races.

The legendary Hall, 70, of Reno, Nev., has a race-record 19
career class wins in this event and is the only driver to have
competed every year (all in a car or truck class). Hall will be
looking for two class wins this year as he is entered as the second
driver for his sons Josh and Chad Hall in Hummer H3 vehicles in both
the Stock Mini and Stock Full classes.

This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race will be televised
on a delayed basis as a one-hour NBC Sports special, in association
with SCORE and Aura360, for the sixth consecutive year. It is
scheduled to air on NBC at 2 p.m. (EST) on Sunday, Dec. 19 on the NBC
Television Network. It will also air on a delayed basis outside of the
U.S. on ESPN International.

In addition to season point class point championships, drivers in
the Pro car and truck classes are also racing to earn prestigious
SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all drivers who complete every
required mile of the five-race season. Being presented by Toyota
Motorsports for the 24th consecutive year, a total of 16 drivers
remain eligible after Round 4 of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series.

This race also features the prestigious Sal Fish SCORE IronRider
awards presented to each motorcycle or ATV rider who completes the
course within the time limit while riding solo. To date, 24
individuals have officially declared that they will be attempting to
complete the course riding solo.